Teamwork

In an incredibly short amount of time, the gals at my quilt shop all made blocks, one of them put all of the blocks together with sashing, a former employee who is now a fabulous longarm quilter quilted it, another gal bound it and Thursday evening, we presented it to our coworker Faith in time for her to have it with her during her first chemo treatment.  There wasn't a dry eye in the house as we presented our gift to Faith - a beautiful combination of pieced, appliqued and stitched blocks in the soft Lecien fabrics that she loves.  She will be in our thoughts and prayers through all of her treatments.

Yahoo!!!!

It took FOREVER, but I finished my Web Sampler quilt!   Putting it together was a bit of a challenge, as I have heard from others who have had problems with their finishing kits.  I think the reason is that these finishing kit patterns were generated in EQ6 and there aren't really full "published pattern" instructions.  That's my personal theory, anyway...  I know I struggled with mine, and you can see the wonky points in the outer border.  There is no instruction for dealing with those.  I think I may have it quilted first, and then decide where to trim it off.

Anyway, I am glad to be finished, but also very happy with the result.  The quilt measures approximately 72x72.

Just in the nick of time!

This project has certainly been languishing.  I never thought I would finish the blocks, and of course I still have the sashing to assemble, but I'm FINALLY finished with my Web Sampler Celebration blocks.  If you are familiar with the project, you might notice I have a couple of different blocks.  I had a real struggle with accurately piecing a couple of them, so I picked 2 other 12" blocks and did my own thing.  I love how these blocks turned out, and when it's put together with the large paisley sashing and black setting triangles, I think it will be stunning.

I finished just in time to start Web Sampler III.  I swore I wasn't going to sign up for another one of these projects, but the fabrics were just calling to me.  I love the Judie Rothermel Vicksburg colors of blue and brown.  The blocks started to roll in yesterday, so after I finish assembling the first sampler, I'll likely dive into the blues and browns next.  Nicole is going to join me on this one, but we're not putting any deadlines on ourselves this time.  I don't do well under pressure!

Lots o' Blocks

I feel like I haven't done any significant sewing in weeks.  I have a lot of little quilting "chores" to get done and haven't worked on one project straight through for quite some time.  This weekend was very productive - I got 2 bindings made and machine stitched to 2 of my older quilts that my friend Liz offered to hand stitch for me.  I put the borders on my Fig & Plum quilt for the shop so we can get that displayed and kits made.

I'm cutting out a couple of projects to take with me on my retreat in early November.  Oh and I made a few blocks!  You might recognize the blocks on the left.  They are from the Fat Quarter Shop's Simply Sophisticated BOM, which is the Moda U Selvages quilt.  The 2 blocks in the middle are the same blocks made with American Jane fabrics, which is one of the choices my shop is offering for our Moda U project.  I really loved how easy these blocks were to put together.  Vicky, the LA Quilter, is hosting a stitch-along for the FQS blocks - check it out.  If you finish and post a picture of your blocks each month, you are entered in a drawing for a FQS gift certificate.  If that's not incentive, I don't know what is!

I'm disappointed that my shop cancelled the Moda U class that was scheduled for Thursday nights.  There weren't enough customers signed up, so I could attend Moda U on Saturdays, but that doesn't really work for me, so I get the blocks, but not the fun of being part of the "club."

Oh and the blocks on the right are for a quilt we're making at the shop for one of our coworkers who is going through a medical crisis.  We're all making two 8" blocks out of Lecien fabrics and will put them together as a surprise gift for our friend Faith.  Everyone is picking their own block design, and I'm sure it will be a great mix of applique and pieced blocks in the beautiful pastel colors that Faith loves.

Merry Christmas, Y'all

Yes, I realize I just said the "C" word.   I know a lot of you aren't ready to hear it - myself included.   But one of our assignments at the quilt shop where I work was to make a stocking to hang in the shop.  We could use any fabrics in the shop, but I kept coming back to this cute Alexander Henry cowboy fabric (and yes, I realize the cowboy front and center is upside down... oh bother...).  I used some ultrasuede for the fringe, found the Texas Ranger badge and a real spur rowel on ebay and I think the stocking turned out very cute.  It sure was fun to make, and it will be fun to see what the other gals at the shop come up with for their stockings.

Halloween Swap

My swap partner does not have a blog, but now that she has confirmed receipt of her package, I will show you what I sent her - a small kitty bag with Godiva chocolates inside, a spooky ice cube tray, 2 Halloween kitchen towels and a tablerunner that I made.  I must say, it was a very unpopular decision in my house to send away that tablerunner, especially since I don't even have one of my own (bad Mommy!).  I hope Ellen likes her goodies, and thanks to Susan at Blackberry Creek for hosting this fun swap.

I won't quit my day job!

Thanks to all of you for playing along with my little money game.   The total amount of money I found in a year was $9.33 - not nearly as lucrative as some of you guessed, unfortunately!  The winning entry was Shar with her guess of $9.23 - wow, Shar, you were almost right on the money (har har!).

Please contact me with your choice of colors for the batiks, or if you're not a fan of batiks, I can send you Civil War fabrics.  Let me know what you would like!